Moonface
Lunare Nikoleav, better known as Moonface (ムーンフェイス Mūnfeisu) is a humanoid Homunculus and was a high ranking member of the L.X.E. Appearance As his name suggests Moonface has a large crescent moon shaped head with small blue fully rounded eyes and a consistent grin. He wears a black and blue tuxedo with a long pointed back and yellow crescent-moon shaped buttons on the front, white gloves, grey trousers and light green pointed boots. Personality Moonface is almost always depicted as being constantly cheerful and speaks with enthusiasm even when confronted by enemies, he maintains a playful, passive atmosphere about him. He is rather flamboyant, and loves to strike a pose usually when asking for the password to allow somebody inside the L.X.E. headquarters, he is normally seen pointing upwards presumably to the moon and uses the catch phrase "Moon~" whenever possible. In battle he is shown to have a more arrogant side like most Homunculi believing that he would defeat Captain Bravo as a Homunculus naturally has more stamina than a human. He is extremely patient as he is prepared to battle for hours or days until the opponent lose all of their stamina. He seems to get on well with Papillon as they both strike poses together and often shows concern for him. History A hundred years before the start of the series, Lunare Nikoleav came from Russia to Japan for reasons unknown, eventually he became a humanoid Homunculus and joined the L.X.E., renaming himself Moonface. One night on a walk in the park he and Dr. Butterfly encounter a young Shusui who attempts to mug Dr. Butterfly while holding a broken piece of glass, demanding that he give him all of his money, food and some medicine. He grabs Shusui by the hair calling him a cute little burglar. Butterfly is impressed with his fierce eyes and tells him to come along with him as he has no other place to go. He tells Butterfly that something good always happens on a walk in the moonlight. Moonface confronted and killed an Alchemist Warrior who Captain Bravo sent to investigate the L.X.E. He later allowed Kinjo to take and use the dead warrior's Kakugane. Plot L.X.E. Arc Moonface first appears along with the rest of the L.X.E. when Dr. Butterfly them all to Papillon who has just awakened inside the restoration flask. Moonface asks Papillon how he feels to which Papillon replies that he feels excellent. Later on Moonface notices that the flask is empty to which Dr. Butterfly tells him that Papillon is healed and that the experiment was a success. He asks Butterfly if they are going to start Victor's treatment and whereabouts is Papillon. Butterfly responds saying they will treat Victor after some maintenance on the flask and that Papillon has gone out dressed in an elegant outfit he made him to declare war on someone. Moonface asks if he will be alright, Butterfly tells him not to worry as he has sent Kinjo to watch over him. When Shusui and Ouka Hayasaka return to the L.X.E. Headquarters, Moonface asks them the passwords and strikes a pose with Papillon and Dr. Butterfly when the siblings enter. When Dr. Butterfly gives the siblings the mission to locate and defeat the alchemist warrior at Ginsei High, Moonface tells them that this is the chance they have been waiting for and wishes them good luck. Just after the Hayasaka twins fight against Kazuki and Tokiko, Moonface meets Papillon who was watching the twins and comments that life is so ephemeral. Papillon asks him what he is doing as he is the twin's watcher, he tells Papillon not to trouble himself as he was just taking a stroll in the moonlight but was also curious to see the strength of Kazuki as he defeated Papillon and tells him that he isn't impressed. This enrages Papillon but he tells him not to scowl, telling him to smile as he doesn't have any intention of stealing his prey but says that he will eat the Hayasaka twins as they failed. He mentions that it was on a very similar night when him and Dr. Butterfly found them and thought they had such promise. As he is saying this he is ambushed by Captain Bravo who attacks with his Comet Bravo Kick, he manages to dodge his attack however and the two glare at each other. He deduces that Bravo is the Alchemist Warrior's leader, Bravo tells Moonface that if he planning on harming the children, he will have to go through him first. He tells Bravo that he would like to fight him but Dr. Butterfly told him to be discreet and doesn't want to disappoint him. Before he leaves he asks Bravo his name, when he answers Moonface compliments it and tells him his name. He says that they will meet in battle soon before doing a somersault into the moonlight. Back at the L.X.E. Headquarters he apologizes to Dr. Butterfly for the Hayasaka twins failure in their mission, Butterfly says that its alright as sooner or later they would have gone astray. Butterfly tells him that he will need him to do his part and fight, to which he gladly agrees with and asks Butterfly whether they should add Papillon to their forces as he could prove quite useful. Butterfly declines saying that Papillon is no good as he was useful as a final test subject for the restoration flask but as a combat asset, he doesn't have enough stamina and has an unstable body. He says that Papillon may have butterfly wings but he will not be able to fly high by himself, however he says that as he is a Homunculus so it is his duty to keep him under his protection. The next morning, when Kazuki, Tokiko, Captain Bravo and Angel Gozen arrive at the headquarters, he asks them for the password. The proceed to give him the password and even strike finishing poses but Moonface doesn't open the door. When the Alchemist Warriors eventually get inside the lab, he shows himself and tells them that Dr. Butterfly took the restoration tank with him as Victor only needs to feed before he awakens. He introduces himself to the Alchemist Warriors along with his Buso Renkin and tells them that Dr. Butterfly has gone to Ginsei High. Kazuki gets angry but he appears in front of him telling him that it is his mission to keep them all there but is quickly punched into the wall by Captain Bravo. After Bravo tells Kazuki and Tokiko to go and defend the school, Moonface asks him if it was wise to divide his forces. Bravo tells him that Kazuki and Tokiko are both full-fledged warriors and that Bravo only needs to take care of the remaining one enemy there and join them. He agrees but another Moonface appears telling Bravo that it would be true if only one enemy remained. Bravo asks them whether it is an illusion or whether they are twins, he tells Bravo to take a closer look, saying that they don't look the same at all. More Moonfaces appear each introducing themselves according to the different phases of the Moon which corresponds to the exact shape of their heads. He explains that his Buso Renkin, Satellite 30 allows him to create 30 copies of himself. Bravo tells him that he will defeat one of his copies every two minutes and that he will be done in an hour. The Moonface copies and Bravo clash with Bravo eventually taking down all but one Moonface. Bravo tells the remaining Moonface that one hour has passed and that he is the last one, however he replicates himself again, explaining that the Moonfaces he creates are all the real one so as long as even one remains, he can continue to replicate himself. He comments that when the the Silver Skin, the perfect defense encounters infinite replication, an endless battle ensues but states that Homunculi can outlast any human, meaning that the battle will end in Bravo's death. He says that they fell into Dr. Butterfly's trap and that Victor will soon awaken, before mentioning that the warrior that he killed also wouldn't give up and took two whole days to beat. Bravo praises the fallen warrior for not giving up and activates a Double Buso Renkin, Silver Skin: Alternate Type using the Kakugane he took back from Kinjo. However Moonface calls Bravo a fool, telling him that it is pointless for him to increase his defenses. Bravo tells him that the Silver Skin is much more than just a metal jacket, before stating that he will not let any more of his comrades die. They clash once more until Bravo disassembles the Alternate Type and uses the Silver Skin Reverse technique to create a net which manages to trap the remaining Moonfaces, eventually constricting them all together in a spherical cage floating in the air. He then lands one finishing punch which blows up the mansion, destroying all the Moonface copies, leaving the original heavily injured, leaving only his head, chest and arm remaining. Bravo carries the defeated Moonface out of the wreckage of the mansion where before meeting Kazuki, Tokiko and Papillon. Bravo puts him in a bag and secures it with strong belts and tape to stop him from fully restoring himself and escaping. After he agrees to divulge any information he has, he says to himself that the moon never truly disappears and that his time will come again so he will wait patiently until then. Sometime later he is taken into custody by the Alchemist Army. Powers & Abilities Enhanced Speed & Reflexes: Moonface has been shown to be able to with exceptional agility, able to dodge many attacks from Captain Bravo and is able to perform high somersaults. Enhanced Strength: He is shown to be quite strong as he was able to push Bravo back in their fight. Enhanced Durability: Like all Homunculi Moonface can withstand conventional weapons and attacks. After Captain Bravo punched him flying into a wall, he got back up almost unscathed. He fought an Alchemist Warrior for around 2 whole days and even fought Bravo for over an hour without much injury. Even when Bravo dealt him a finishing blow, he lost the bottom half of his body with the rest severely damaged but he remained alive and was still able to speak and keep his happy demeanor. Regeneration: Also like all Homunculi Moonface will regenerate quickly from any non-alchemic attack. However his regeneration is slow when attacked by a Buso Renkin or a Homunculus. His regeneration is enhanced thanks to his Buso Renkin which allows him to create new, uninjured replications. Buso Renkin Buso Renkin of the Moon Fang, Satellite 30 (サテライト・30 Sateraito 30). Moonface possesses Kakugane XXX which takes the form of a small yellow and silver crescent moon shaped knife, styled after a deer horn knife with two crescent-moon shapes at the base. *'Moonface Replication': The Satellite 30 can split Moonface into as many as 30 separate bodies that can fight as a unit. Each of the bodies are the same as the original so even if one remains, it can be divided into 30 bodies again. Since this uses a large amount of energy, only a homunculus such as Moonface could use it. The more copies Moon Face makes, the harder it is for him to coordinate complicated moves. Each of the copies have different heads, shaped like the different phases of the moon. These are the known names for some of Moonface's copies (in order of appearance): *Moonface "Nijurokuya" (ムーンフェイス〝二十六夜〟 Mūnfeisu "Nijūrokuya") *Moonface "Sengetsu" (ムーンフェイス〝繊月〟 Mūnfeisu "Sengetsu") *Moonface "Mayutsuki" (ムーンフェイス〝眉月〟 Mūnfeisu "Mayutsuki") *Moonface "Hihaku" (ムーンフェイス〝朏魄〟 Mūnfeisu "Hihaku") *Moonface "Kangetsu" (ムーンフェイス〝観月〟 Mūnfeisu "Kangetsu") *Moonface "Nijusanyamachi" (ムーンフェイス〝二十三夜待〟 Mūnfeisu "Nijūsan'yamachi") *Moonface "Gyokko" (ムーンフェイス〝玉鈎〟 Mūnfeisu "Gyokkō") *Moonface "Kagen" (ムーンフェイス〝下弦〟 Mūnfeisu "Kagen") *Moonface "Mangetsu" (ムーンフェイス〝満月〟 Mūnfeisu "Mangetsu") *Moonface "Shingetsu" (ムーンフェイス〝新月〟 Mūnfeisu "Shingetsu") Trivia *According to Nobuhiro Watsuki: **He likes the moon and tsukimi dango (moon-viewing dumplings). **He dislikes clouds that hide the moon and lunar eclipses. **His hobby is moon-bathing and watching the moon. **His special ability is performing somersaults. *Nobuhiro Watsuki states that he based Moonface on one of his doodles. *His name is also a play on "moon phase", which refers to his Buso Renkin's ability to create a duplicate representing every phase of the moon during a month. *The crescent moon is used as an alchemical symbol and is often shown as having a face making Moonface almost identical to this symbol. *Nobuhiro Watsuki states in chapter 51 that Moonface's replication ability was based off of Agent Smith from Matrix: Reloaded Quotes * "Moon!" * (To Dr. Butterfly) "You see? What did I tell you? Something good always happens on a walk in the moonlight." * (To Papillon) "Now, don't scowl. Give me a smile!" * (To Kazuki, Tokiko, Captain Bravo) "Of course I am! My name used to be Lunare Nikolaev! Now I'm Moonface! And this... is my precious Buso Renkin! * (To Captain Bravo) "Clones? Or twins? C'mon! Take a closer look to us! We're not identical, we're not the same at all." * "Mangetsu! Beautiful!, Shingetsu! Scary!" * "The Moon waxes and wanes, but it never really disappears. My time will come again. I'll wait patiently until then." Gallery Moonface1.jpg|Moonface lineart Moonface2.jpg|Moonface "Moon phase" heads and facial expressions lineart ca:Moonface Category:Characters Category:Homunculi Category:Male Category:L.X.E. Category:Antagonists